Overall, my freshman year of college was a very enlightening and challenging adventure. The greatest revelation I had from one of my classes came in my second semester in Intro to Environmental Policy. Previously, my primary interest for my major had been the more scientific portion of environmental science, but in learning about the policy portion of how our country treats its natural resources and wonders, I came to realize that my interest lies in policy. I was originally going to declare my concentration as ‘Global Environmental Change’, but ended up declaring ‘Environmental Politics and Policy’ instead, purely because of this class opening my eyes to an interest in environmental policy/law. For incoming students looking to experience some surprises, I’d recommend taking a variety of classes on various topics, since you never know which one might end up piquing your interest. I originally planned on being interested in classes like BSCI160 or GEOL110, but ENSP102 was a very pleasant surprise.
My greatest success in developing a relationship with a faculty member came in my oral communications class, INAG110. My professor always made an effort to talk to his students and learn about them, and jokes were commonly thrown around in the class. Since he made an effort to talk to everyone, it made people more comfortable coming to him for help, talking to him after class, and also joking about him too. He encouraged us to call him at any hour if we needed help, and with all these things he built a good relationship with all of his students. We came to him for help, to share a funny story, or to get advice for college. When the semester was over, he wished us all the best and told us that he would still be available if we ever needed him. Building a relationship with faculty is something that seems intimidating, but if you need help or advice, force yourself to reach out and talk to them like a normal person. I know they’re a successful adult, which makes it scary to reach out if you’re struggling, but they have absolutely been in your shoes and want you to succeed.
College can feel really isolating, but it’s important to have friends so that you don’t just end up doing nothing but studying and sitting around. Having people around to study with, go to the store with, watch a tv show with, and go into DC has helped me to get out of my own head and have something outside of my classes. I’ve always struggled with a work/life balance, preferring to focus on getting things done and only interacting with people when I can, but having people who want to get together helps to balance the scales more. The main obstacle in these relationships is, of course, scheduling, since we all have classes, clubs, and exams at different times, it makes it hard to arrange any plans. I’d say to make the best of connection with your peers, make sure to keep in contact and try to get together during stressful times, if only for a short time, to get your mind off that upcoming exam or assignment. It will do wonders for your mental health.
Based on my experiences in college thus far, I was least prepared for how fast the rate of many of the classes are. I took AP courses throughout high school, which were very rigorous and moved very quickly, so I thought I was prepared (Spoiler Alert: I wasn’t). Many of the due dates for assignments overlap, you learn content up until the day before an exam, and assignments continue up until the last possible second. I’d recommend that you absolutely need to learn good time management skills. Be prepared to stay up late and pull all-nighters to get things done on time, and if you have a genuine reason to need an extension on an assignment, ask for one.